The present invention relates generally to the fields of databases and search programs and more specifically to a computer program that maintains a quality database, allows dual searching of the local device and the Internet, and provides for easy navigation through different levels of specificity on any subject.
Databases are well known in the field. Databases typically use fields to store and organize large amounts of information. The stored information is then recalled by requesting the information in any one or more of the fields. Data mining is a process of retrieving information from one or more databases. Databases can store information in multiple forms including text, pictures, video, multimedia and any mime.
Multimedia is the presentation of information using the combination of text, sound, pictures, animation, and video. Multimedia applications can include predefined associations, known as hyperlinks, that enable users to switch between media elements and topics. Thoughtfully presented multimedia can enhance the learning experience for the end user and make the completion of required tasks much more simple. Multimedia documents found on the World Wide Web are called Web pages. Linking information together with hyperlinks is accomplished by special computer programs or computer languages. The computer language commonly used to create Web pages is called HyperText Markup Language (HTML).
A personal-computing device, such as a personal computer, a Macintosh® computer, and a handheld computer, includes a display screen, a keyboard and a pointing device, such as a mouse or pen, so that the user can direct the associations between hyperlinks and webpages. Photographs, drawings, and other still images must be changed into a format that the computer can manipulate and display. Such formats include bit-mapped graphics and vector graphics. Bit-mapped graphics store, manipulate, and represent images as rows and columns of tiny dots. In a bit-mapped graphic, each dot has a precise location described by its row and column, much like each house in a city has a precise address. Some of the most common bit-mapped graphics formats are called Graphical Interchange Format (GIF), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), and Windows Bitmap (BMP). Vector graphics use mathematical formulas to recreate the original image. In a vector graphic, the dots are not defined by a row-and-column address, rather they are defined by their spatial relationships to one another. Because their dot components are not restricted to a particular row and column, vector graphics can reproduce images more easily and thus provide better output on most video screens and printers. Common vector graphics formats are Encapsulated Postscript (EPS), Windows Metafile Format (WMF), Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language (HPGL), and Macintosh graphics file format (PICT).
Video files can be quite large, so they are usually reduced in size using compression, a technique that identifies a recurring set of information, such as one hundred black dots in a row, and replaces it with a single piece of information to save space in the computer's storage systems. Common video compression formats are Audio Video Interleave (AVI), Quicktime, and Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG or MPEG2). These formats can shrink video files by as much as 95 percent however, they may introduce varying degrees of distortion also. Animation can also be included in multimedia applications to add motion to images. Animations are particularly useful to simulate real-world situations, such as the flight of an airplane or a surgical procedure. Animation can also enhance existing graphics and video elements adding special effects such as morphing, the blending of one image seamlessly into another.
Sound, like visual elements, must be recorded and formatted so the computer can understand and use it in presentations. Two common types of audio format are Waveform (WAV) and Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). WAV files store actual sounds, much as music CDs and tapes do. WAV files can be large and may require compression. MIDI files do not store the actual sounds, but rather instructions that enable devices called synthesizers to reproduce the sounds or music. MIDI files are much smaller than WAV files, but the quality of the sound reproduction is not nearly as good.
Scroll bars, usually located on the side of the computer screen, enable the user to move to another portion of a large document or picture. Hyperlinks creatively connect the different elements of a multimedia presentation using colored or underlined text or a small picture, called an icon, on which the user points the cursor and clicks on a mouse. Multimedia has had an enormous impact on education. For example, medical schools use multimedia-simulated operations that enable prospective surgeons to perform operations on a computer-generated “virtual” patient. Similarly, students in engineering schools use interactive multimedia presentations of circuit designs to learn the basics of electronics and to immediately implement, test, and manipulate the circuits they design on a computer.
A modem, which stands for modulator-demodulator, is a device that connects a computer to a telephone line and allows information to be transmitted to or received from another computer. Computers that send and receive information to and from a network must include some communications hardware such as a telephone modem, a cable modem, or a network card. In the case of a telephone modem, the information sent from one computer is converted into an audio signal, which is then transmitted by telephone lines to the receiving modem, which converts the signal into information that the receiving computer can understand. Handshaking is the term used for the signal acknowledging that communication or the transfer of information can take place. Handshaking between computers can be controlled by either hardware or software.
The Internet is based on the concept of a client-server relationship between computers, also called a client/server architecture. To access information on the Internet, a user must first log on, or connect, to the client computer's host network. This connection can be established with or without user intervention depending on the software. Once a connection has been established, the user may request information from a remote server. If the information requested by the user resides on one of the computers on the host network, that information is quickly retrieved and sent to the user's terminal. If the information requested by the user is on a server that does not belong to the host LAN, then the host network connects to other networks until it makes a connection with the network containing the requested server. In the process of connecting to other networks, the host may need to access a router, a device that determines the best connection path between networks and helps networks to make connections. Once the client computer makes a connection with the server containing the requested information, the server sends the information to the client in the form of a file. A special computer program called a browser enables the user to view the file. Examples of Internet browsers are Mosaic, Netscape, and Internet Explorer. Non-multimedia documents do not need browsers to view their text-only contents and many multimedia documents provide access to text-only versions of their files. The process of retrieving files from a remote server to the user's terminal is called downloading.
Traditional search engines such as the above Internet browsers return thousands of results, or “hits”, upon the completion of a search, and most of the hits presented to the user are only loosely related to the searched terms. The end result is a large number of electronic files and webpages that the user must sift through in order to find the information that he wants. Another shortcoming of traditional search engines is that they do not support different levels of interest on a given subject. Everything on the searched topic is dumped on the user all at once without regard to broad coverage or specific coverage on the searched topic. Further, the source of the information presented to the user is not always clear. Leading to doubts on the user's part as to whether or not the information is reliable.
What is needed in the field is a search approach that delivers quality results and requires less time and effort than traditional search engines. The ideal search utility would present a selected subject to the user in increasing levels of specificity and allow for easy navigation between the different levels. The ideal search utility would also store and provide information from experts in the field of the searched subject to the user. Users could also be provided with the source of the quality information.